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Afghan protesters in front of Bagram Air Base during an anti-U.S. demonstration, Feb. 21, 2012. (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan - More than 2,000 angry Afghans protested outside an American air base on Tuesday after they learned that copies of the Quran (Koran), the Muslim holy book, were burned in a pile of garbage at a sprawling U.S. military base north of Kabul.

"Die, die, foreigners!" the demonstrators shouted. Some fired rifles into the air. Others threw rocks at the gate of the base.

A CBS News crew traveled to the sprawling Bagram Air Field in Parwan province and saw the remnants of several tires which were set on fire at an entrance gate to the sprawling U.S. base, and as many as several hundred protesters were still chanting at another gate, but appeared to be dispersing.

The burning of the Quran and other religious books was unintentional, said U.S. Gen. John Allen, the top commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

The incident stoked anti-foreign sentiment that already is on the rise after a decade of war in Afghanistan and fueled the arguments of Afghans who claim foreign troops are not respectful of their culture or Islamic religion.

Early Tuesday, as word of the incident spread, about 100 demonstrators gathered outside the base. As the crowd grew, so did the outrage.

One protester, Mohammad Hakim, said if U.S. forces can't bring peace to Afghanistan, they should go home.

"They should leave Afghanistan rather than disrespecting our religion, our faith," Hakim said. "They have to leave and if next time they disrespect our religion, we will defend our holy Quran, religion and faith until the last drop of blood has left in our body."

Ahmad Zaki Zahed, chief of the provincial council, said U.S. military officials took him to a burn pit on the base where 60 to 70 books, including Qurans, were recovered. The books were used by detainees once incarcerated at the base, he said.

"Some were all burned. Some were half-burned," Zahed said, adding that he did not know exactly how many Qurans had been burned.

Zahed said five Afghans working at the pit told him that the religious books were in the garbage that two soldiers with the U.S.-led coalition transported to the pit in a truck late Monday night. When they realized the books were in the trash, the laborers quickly worked to recover them, he said.

"The laborers there showed me how their fingers were burned when they took the books out of the fire," he said.

In a statement, Allen said he had ordered an investigation and offered his apologies to the president and people of Afghanistan. He thanked local Afghan workers "who helped us identify the error, and who worked with us to immediately take corrective action."

"We are thoroughly investigating the incident and are taking steps to ensure this does not ever happen again," Allen said. "I assure you, I promise you, this was not intentional in any way."

>SNIP<

In April 2011, Afghans protesting the burning of a Quran by a Florida pastor turned deadly when gunmen in the crowd stormed a U.N. compound in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif and killed three staffers and four Nepalese guards.

Perhaps they should burn a few Bibles in retaliation... No, wait, they don't permit Bibles. Meanwhile, the Taliban hasn't promised to investigate the murders of the UN aid workers, and while it denies responsibility for the beheadings of two spies yesterday, they haven't promised an investigation of that, either.

Perhaps they should burn a few Bibles in retaliation... No, wait, they don't permit Bibles. Meanwhile, the Taliban hasn't promised to investigate the murders of the UN aid workers, and while it denies responsibility for the beheadings of two spies yesterday, they haven't promised an investigation of that, either.

A couple of grenades in the middle of the crowd would make them more agreeable!

Last edited by Rockntractor; 02-21-2012 at 11:25 AM.

The difference between pigs and people is that when they tell you you're cured it isn't a good thing.

There is no hope for these people. Their hysteria and intolerance makes them the most unpredictable and unproductive people on earth.

Even though they are dependent upon the modern world for their livelihood of selling drugs, they will simply never be able to join the modern world.

Correct. We should give them the freedom they want. Freedom from "free" labor, roads, schools, terror. Just allow them the freedom to embrace that funloving Taliban group that worked so well for them in the past. Freedom to have no money or medium of trade except poppy product. Freedom to be over run and ruled back to the 7th century.

If their freedom becomes our problem, we nuke them into powder and await the next bunch of freedom lovers.

Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.C. S. LewisDo not ever say that the desire to "do good" by force is a good motive. Neither power-lust nor stupidity are good motives. (Are you listening Barry)?:mad:Ayn Rand

There is no hope for these people. Their hysteria and intolerance makes them the most unpredictable and unproductive people on earth.

Even though they are dependent upon the modern world for their livelihood of selling drugs, they will simply never be able to join the modern world.

If the army had accidentally burned a bunch of Bibles at a fort in the south during the 1950s, how would the people nearby responded? Probably the same way many of them responded to Scopes/Darwin, rock music and revenuers.

There are billions of muslims in this world. I can't believe that there is no hope for any of them.